At the top of Haleakala

So, regretfully we watched the sun set over Lanai for one last time, and said good-bye to Maui Kai on Ka'anapalii Beach. We drove 30 miles south, and found another paradise! Hello Maui Kamaole! While we were a bit further from the beach, we had loads of room! Take a look...


The highlight of our stay on this part of the island (and perhaps the highlight of the whole trip) was our excursion to the top of Haleakala to see the sun rise, and then to bike part of the way back down. We were picked up at 3:30 a.m. Believe me, South Kehei Drive is VERY quiet at 3:30 a.m. I was glad we were together! We were driven to Kapalui with about 10 other hardy souls, fed muffins and coffee, then driven another hour and a half to the top of the mountain. We had been warned about how cold it is at the top! It was 45 degrees, a tad colder than at the beach level, but nothing to those of us from colder areas of the world. Apparently this drive is the shortest in the world to get from sea level to over 10,000 feet. We arrived before the sunrise, waited in the observation area, listened to the park rangers countdown every few minutes the wait time until sunrise (6:52 a.m.) and then...magic!
Waiting...
Almost...
Closer...
And there it is! The sun rose in all its glory, accompanied by native Hawaiian chanting and song. Truly a magical, once in a lifetime experience.
We then moved even further up the mountain (the sun rose over the crater, not at the peak) and explored the terrain. So much new knowledge!
But the fun part was riding (coasting) down part of the mountain. It was fun, exhilarating, nerve-wracking, tense, scary once when the woman in front of me lost control and went over the yellow line to the oncoming traffic lane, supremely peaceful, sensory-enhancing (especially through the eucalyptus trees and the lavender farm), thrilling, and above all, satisfying. What an adventure! We could see Kalahui, the fields of sugar cane, the coast and beaches where we were staying, the highway to Ka'anapali, the waters at Pai'a (see previous blog entry), all on a perfectly clear and beautiful day (except for a bit of "vog" - volcanic fog - from the mountains on the Big Island).

The next few days were fun, but just not quite as exciting. How do you beat sunrise on a mountain top? At Maui Mall, we ran into some celebrations of the Chinese New Year, the year of the dragon.
And just for those who shop at home at this store, we did go to Foodland in Kehei. The parking lot was not the least bit icy!
Today, Monday, we left Maui behind and headed to the Big Island. We have been here about 5 hours, and I have to tell you that I feel that we have found some of the true Hawaiian Islands. Hilo is quaint, to say the least. We are staying here and find ourselves in a lovely, small hotel that has fresh anthurium bouquets in two places in our room, which has a kitchen, lovely bathroom area, internet access, cable t.v., and local birds singing their hearts out outside. We are in the heart of the rain forest, and for the first time this trip, we did experience rain this afternoon. We had supper at Ken's House of Pancakes, a local favourite hangout where they ring a gong and shout something when anyone orders a "loco moco" - rice with meat on top, eggs on top of that, and gravy over it all. Ken's has several versions of this island favourite, so I am hoping Ross will try it one night instead of the Mile High Clubhouse sandwich he had tonight! Tomorrow we are off to see what Volcanoes National Park has in store. Stay tuned!

If you lost someone in the 70s...

Our guide on our bike ride down Haleakula said, "If you lost someone in the 70s, they are probably in Pai'a." Sure enough, that is where we found a long lost teammate of Ross's from the 60s and 70s. Here he is pointing out the waves he rides. That's what he does, makes juice for a local grocery store, and surfs. It was a very interesting reunion.

In front of his home quite a ways up the mountain. The medal around his neck was a birthday gift, as he recently celebrated his 65th! I don't think I will be surfing when I turn 65!

Road to Hana and other things...

This entry is just a collection of some random shots from some random places. We start at Duke's, a restaurant on the beach just down from us. This is where we toasted Dad on his birthday. Note the drink in the foreground. It is a "lava flow", a drink which was recommended by a friend. Very good, very creamy - like an adult coconut milkshake. The other was a "Dirty Dacquiri" - good too, but not as creamy.
The Road to Hana has many stops, with lots to see at each stop. Here is some of the bamboo we saw. We drove through a real bamboo forest as well.
Looking down on a waterfall - one of many along the way.
Black sand beach - fascinating!

Coconuts lined up for sale at a wayside market.
From our balcony - another gorgeous sunset over Lanai.
Fooling around on an early morning walk.
Sights on a beach walk near Kapalu. We were tempted to change our lodgings to the Ritz Carlton on the point here, but decided against it.
Looking homeward.

Tomorrow we move to another part of this island, then on Monday we are off to the Big Island. It will be hard to say goodbye to Maui!

Remembering

Remembering you Dad, in what was one of your favourite places on earth! Happy Birthday.

The Feast at Lele

What a wonderful Christmas gift from our children! The "Feast at Lele" is a show and five course dinner, with food and entertainment from Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand and Samoa. It was a three hour spectacle on the shores of Maui in Lahaina, with the dining on the beach as the sun set over Lanai. Words don't describe it, so maybe pictures will help (although you would need the sounds, smells, and tastes to fully appreciate what we experienced).
See how close we were to the "stage"? Thanks for calling early for reservations! We had the best seats in the house!

The sun set during the first forty-five minutes, before the dinner and show. We munched on banana leaf chips and salsa, and we looked at the poi!


It was a wonderful evening, followed by a stroll down Front Street in Lahaina, and then a short drive home. I must admit, it is so beautiful here and we are so lucky to be here, that I get a bit emotional at times. Thanks again, everyone!

Maui - no adjectives needed.

You have to love Hawaiian Airlines - this is the spot you can wait for your plane if you choose to do so. Makes our new terminal look a little shabby!
Here we are in Maui Kai - this is our kitchen for the time we are here.
And our studio apartment opens up to the ocean. As I write this, the doors are closed, but the sounds of the ocean are very close.
The view from our lanai - nothing but ocean (and Molokai and Lanai).
With my heels in the ocean, I took this picture of Ross on our second floor lanai.
Do you still have a poinsettia plant in your house from Christmas? Here is a poinsettia hedge!
To all the little ones in our family, we sure wish you were here to play on this play structure by the ocean.
Our apartment comes complete with sand chairs and boogie boards for our enjoyment. While we haven't "boogied" much yet, we have enjoyed floating around on the boards.

Unfortunately, on reaching shore Ross brushed against something in the coral. We hope that whatever stung him also helped with the meniscus.
Sunset tonight over Lanai. This picture and the one which follows were taken from our lanai.
In the distance, a lighted up craft takes some vacationers for an evening cruise. Just another day in paradise.

Thanks Mom!

Not me.
Definitely not me!
Me!

Thanks Mom, for a delicious buffet dinner at this unique restaurant, complete with fish feeding and a mermaid! I don't think either of us did justice to the "all you can eat" crab legs, shrimp, sushi, prime rib etc. etc. but it was all tasty. Good thing we didn't find out until the next day, while watching the Martin Luther King Day parade, that the workers at this hotel have been fighting for ten years to become unionized! The marchers weren't advocating boycotting, though, just asking us to call the general manager and express our support for the union. I will say that the workers we saw were working hard, and deserve a decent wage.

After dinner, we took a walk along Kalahaua, and in no particular order, here are some of the people/activities/events we saw:
* a GREAT magician! This guy was young, keen, active, and definitely could pull at least water out of thin air! He had a large crowd around him.
* singers - mostly Hawaiian music - what a surprise!
* ukelele players and singers
* one or two guys painted completely silver or gold, posing as statues (and moving very occasionally)
* artists painting Hawaiian scenes
* portrait artists
* caricature artists
* two separate individuals just standing there reading from the bible (no crowds around them)
* a group singing hymns
* a guy handing out pamphlets advertising a gun range (he's there every night!)
* many interesting looking tourists
* and sadly, many homeless (or at least houseless) people, including families. On our way back down Ohua to get to our hotel we passed at least 8 people settled in for the night on the little sidewalk space by the church. Everything else we saw had an element of humour to it. This did not.

So, once again I am reminded how extremely lucky we are to be here, to be able to do what we want to do when we want to do it, to have the means to eat well and sleep in a bed, and to have the good health to climb a mountain, walk along the canal, swim in the ocean. Aloha for now.